Federal Bill Contains $1 Billion For Everglades Restoration

MIAMI, FL - OCTOBER 17: An egret stands in the Everglades National Park after the park reopened to visitors today, following a 16-day closure stemming from the partial federal government shutdown on October 17, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The political standoff about the national debt and the funding of the Affordable Care Act ended in the nations capital before a midnight deadline last night. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Congress is likely to pass the Water Resources Reform and Development Act next week.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said the bill authorizes money for four Everglades projects that would direct freshwater into Biscayne Bay and the southeastern Everglades. They also would store polluted water from Lake Okeechobee to keep it from flowing into the Caloosahatchee River.

However, the bill does not include the Central Everglades Planning Project. That plan would redirect more water south of Lake Okeechobee into the central Everglades and south into Everglades National Park and Florida Bay. It’s still being reviewed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.